Kickstarter - Cult: Awakening of the Old Ones

June 11th, 2012, 01:55

crazyirish writes in with Cult: Awakening of the Old Ones on Kickstarter, an "open-ended" RPG with "procedural storytelling". Apparently the game is all text at the moment but the developer is looking for a mere $5000 to have a tileset made and set up a website (currently $4485 with 25 days to go, so they will definitely get there):

Cult is an open-ended role-playing game set in a user-generated world with a strong focus on storytelling, exploration, and environmental interaction. In simpler terms, it is about exploring a richly fleshed-out fantasy world unique from any other, with procedurally generated stories, myths, legends, civilizations, creatures, gods, and - well, basically everything! Cult is one part role playing game and one part experiment into the possible depth of procedural generation, and one of my goals with this project is to intertwine computer-driven storytelling with random content in a way that appears as seamless as possible to the player.
I drew my inspiration from games like Dwarf Fortress, the Elder Scrolls series, Darklands, and even Crusader Kings. I have also been heavily influenced by games from the 90's like Chrono Trigger, Secret of Evermore and Final Fantasy 3 which relied on a very strong story to draw the player in and keep them hooked. I love playing open-ended games, but I've always wanted a game that combined a randomly generated, complex world with equally complex stories, history, and characters. Since I've never been able to find any games like that, I decided to make one of my own!

Another very intriguing and ambitious project. Seems like it will be a bit like the Dwarf Fortress adventure mode, fully fleshed out with sandbox / building aspects and a much more user-friendly interface. The things he is attempting with procedural story elements will be amazing if he pulls it off. Even without that it looks like an awesome open-world roguelike / RPG.

The pictures on the kickstarter page don't really tell much about the game, I recommend the videos found on his development blog instead.

The fact that it appears to have a tolerable interface is what especially interests me. I try and get into Dwarf Fortress every 6 months or so but am always put off by the interface. The whole concept is intriguing though and I'm glad to see more people experimenting in this area.